Inner Conflict
by Sorrow Teddy Bean
Summary: Oneshot. The summer after book six, reflecting Harry's feelings and reactions. Special appearance of Draco Malfoy


Disclaimer: Written below, all the characters, objects, places and some quotes belong to J. K. Rowling.

A/n: This is my first attempt although I have been reading some fanfiction since last four years or so. This one shot mostly expressed the way I felt about the ending of book six.

Inner Conflict

Lying scattered on the wooden crate were a few sealed letters delivered to a 'Harry Potter', torn and tattered pieces of parchments, crushed papers, and two quills snapped into halves. A pair of black rimmed spectacles was probably thrown on the floor nearby carelessly, by the look of the bent wire frame and broken pieces of glass, along with a mess of newspapers. On the makeshift bed rested a grayish pillow with numerous hollows, closely akin to punches. There were also footprints on the walls in varying degree of tones.

And the said boy was huddled in a corner, staring into space. His usual emerald eyes no longer glittered but bloodshot evidently showed the devastating feeling of the frail-looking boy. For the past months, he had been trying hard to choke back tears and it was wearing him thin. He was not going to cry. Crying would only mean that he was to accept the deaths of both Sirius and Dumbledore. They would be back. They would.

'_I am with you.' Those were the few words that Professor Dumbledore had said before going into unconsciousness. He was just taking a long sleep. He would wake up someday. He had to._

Thinking back, why did Professor keep insisting on meeting Severus Snape when Harry could call for Madam Pomfrey? How could he ever believe that damn murderer _Snape _would turn a new leaf?

He would take revenge one day. Snape, Bellatrix, those Death Eaters and lastly Voldemort. He swore that he would kill them one day with his own hands.

As his thoughts flowed, angry tears started to gather again, obscuring his vision. Using the sleeve of his oversized hand-me-down t-shirt, he wiped those unwanted tears away. When Harry lowered down his arm, he saw Draco Malfoy towering in front of him, smirking like the devil itself.

Was he hallucinating? He blinked a few times to ensure.

"Why Potter, too surprised to see me!"

"W–what are you doing here?" Harry cursed himself for stammering.

"To see your wretched look and to finish you off." Draco sneered.

"You can't, Malfoy.' And he remembered Professor Dumbledore saying the same sentence; Harry laughed almost horribly at that memory. 'I believe your _lord _need to do that himself to make certain that I am no longer a threat to him. I am a threat to oh your mighty lord. Ha!"

"You're not worthy to speak of him this way," spat Draco an instant later as he was stunned by Harry's fearless bluntness.

"Am I not? Who are you to say?' questioned Harry as he stared into the irises of misty grey ever so masked with a sense of indifference, 'You are nothing but an obedient lackey to him."

There was a long pause as Harry waited for Malfoy's rebark. When none came, Harry mused, "Ain't you afraid that you might be in danger when you're in the presence of a jinx?"

"Presence of a jinx, uh…you? What happened to you, Potter? Got banged on your head!" Malfoy gave him a ridiculed look.

"Maybe…maybe…" his voice trailed off in a depressed note.

Harry closed his eyes as he thought of the past when he kept on running away from the truth. The veiled pain threaded in his sagged and scrawny features slowly disappeared, now filled with complete calmness.

As his eyes fluttered open again, Malfoy was gone. Whether Draco Malfoy was a fragment of his imagination or not, Harry knew that he had to come around now. There were lots of things waiting for him to do. He must not disappoint Dumbledore when he was given some responsibilities.

Harry scampered to the other side of the room to reach for a new piece of parchment. Sitting behind the crate-desk, he got down to work as fast as possible. Words were scribbled across the paper quickly, without waiting for the dark ink to dry as if Harry was afraid to miss any details, leaving a little smear here and there. In one or two minutes, a list of possible places that was believed to be the hidden sites for the rest of the four Horcruxes was produced.

And he shall start from Godric's Hollow…

Please review.


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